Thursday, October 12, 2017

Hello, friends. How are you? It's fall, and I'm ready.
As many of you know, one of my favorite projects is Paging Columbus, the reading series I run. Amy Dalrymple and Cynthia Rosi of the Word Carver podcast were kind enough to post this recent interview with me about Paging Columbus and poetry.

Sunday, September 10, 2017

This was one of my all-time favorite videos as a child...we constantly borrowed it from the library, and I watched it so many times I think we wore the tape out. My dad recently sent me the link to it, and I laughed when I heard this song, which features prominently in Kill Bill (also one of my favorite movies). Fascinating how aesthetic and sound embed themselves in us...

Monday, August 14, 2017

I can't get enough of Kelly Popoff's gorgeous artwork. This stunning piece is called "First Grade (O Children #00039)," and I just keep looking at it, into each child's face, at the images projected/revealed there.

I hope you're writing, or reading, or making art. I am! Sending you creativity and gentleness and the energy to keep going.

Friday, May 12, 2017

This week, I received a beautiful gift. My friend Amy Monticello (who is a wonderful writer and teacher) had her students choose books to read whose authors agreed to be interviewed. I was happy to do so, and her student Kristen Sallaberry reached out a couple of months ago with some fun questions about my book, In the Kettle, the Shriek. Yesterday, Amy shared that Kristen made this gorgeous book trailer to accompany my book. I absolutely love it--I found it so touching to see how sensitively Kristen translated the mood and images from the poems. I loved the way the camera treats landscape and details of scenery, the dreamy atmosphere, and the introspective music (I didn't know the "Lanterns Lit" song before, but it is right up my alley).

What an absolutely beautiful and inspiring surprise. What a gift writers and readers and artists are to one another.

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

What to make of our unremembered timesRinsing my facePulling a loaf of wheat bread from the grocery shelfby its twist-tied piggy tail of cellophaneAn elevator One elevator in a lifetime of elevatorsAll that has happened in one minute fedforever to the meter

Friday, February 10, 2017

Am I a horrible personAm I selfishAm I dyingWould my grandparents sayWhere did my grandparents come fromWhere did their beliefs come fromWhat will I regret in twenty yearsAm I dying tomorrowAm I lazyHow can I help another human with all of their interiorityWill my child learn how to live without meWill he feel loved and know how to locate happiness and how to reach for itWill my child be okHow long do we have togetherAll of us who love each other what do we get to keep What portion Any of itUsing what I already have what can I eatHow does one prepare this strange vegetableCan I ask an imaginary great grandparent how they would do itWhat crucial step have I forgottenWhy haven’t I learned this yetCan I prevent regretWhat will stop the world’s insistent implodingDoes how I look become a portal into my selfAm I accurately communicating my valuesthrough my homeHow is this other human doingHow do other humans liveAm I doing this right